How to install NVIDIA.run?

Question

I have a Nvidia Ge force Ge6150 SE graphics card. I am running ubuntu 12.04. When I try to install the .run file it fails. It shows the message like this:

I tried to install it after uninstalling the old driver.still same message. Here is the log file:

nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Mon Jun 11 05:46:17 2012
installer version: 295.53

PATH: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games

nvidia-installer command line:
    ./nvidia-installer

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
-> The file '/tmp/.X0-lock' exists and appears to contain the process ID '1062' of a >runnning X server.
ERROR: You appear to be running an X server; please exit X before installing.  For >further details, please see the section INSTALLING THE NVIDIA DRIVER in the README >available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com.
ERROR: Installation has failed.  Please see the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' >for details.  You may find suggestions on fixing installation problems in the README >available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com.

but no such file is shown in the process manager.

Solution 1

As the error states, you are still running an X server. This error occurs when you try to install the Nvidia .run files while logged in.

Make sure you are logged out.

1. Hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 and login using your credentials.
2. kill your current X server session by typing sudo service lightdm stop or sudo lightdm stop
3. Enter runlevel 3 by typing sudo init 3
4. Install your *.run file.
   1. you change to the directory where you have downloaded the file by typing for instance cd Downloads. If it is in another directory, go there. Check if you see the file when you type ls NVIDIA*
   2. Make the file executable with chmod +x ./your-nvidia-file.run
   3. Execute the file with sudo ./your-nvidia-file.run
5. You might be required to reboot when the installation finishes. If not, run sudo service lightdm start or sudo start lightdm to start your X server again.
6. It's worth mentioning, that when installed this way, you'd have to redo the steps after each kernel update.

Solution 2

I installed latest nvidia drivers by this method:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

It is working fine with unity 3d. Thanks to all.

Solution 3

Add the --no-x-check flag when you run this in the terminal:

sudo ./NVIDIAxxxx.run --no-x-check

Solution 4

I had the same problem installing the driver for an old GeForce 9800 GT in Ubuntu 14.04-2. It was the NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-340.76.run

I switched to the the tty1 using Ctrl+Alt+F1 and also stopped the service lightdm and when running the executable got the same error .

What I did to solve the problem was navigate to the /tmp folder and erase the .X0-lock file.

You will only see it listed if you use ls -la as it is a hidden folder by default(that is why it has a dot in front of the name)

cd /tmp
rm -rf .X0-lock

After erasing that folder and executing the NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-340.76.run it installed just fine.

Solution 5

Ubuntu 16.04 with Quadro 4000 confirmed that this method work:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-375

Note that I don't use nvidia-current as I downloaded the run file from NVIDIA and its version is 375.66

View more solutions

Comments

[dobey]

Does installing the nvidia-current package in ubuntu with apt-get not work with your card? Why are you trying to install that version of the driver, rather than the supported version packaged for ubuntu 12.04?

[Kiranraj]

It has problems with my card.It conflicts with unity.Glitches in video playback .Nvidia Current is still 295.40!It do not give me the resolution 1440*900

[Dominic Cerisano]

Don't use the .run file. Just sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa. The latest drivers will appear in "Software & Updates --> Additional Drivers".

[Giang Nguyễn]

Following this link surely helps you: unix.stackexchange.com/a/524151/365545

[Admin]

@DominicCerisano , this add option to software and update but further did not work for me. e.g., I could see driver v510 using nvidia-smi, but this command add v515. but next it says ...couldn't communicate with driver

[Admin]

You really need to give the command lines you are using. Eg. the errors you gave indicate you need likely need to be root (sudo).

[Admin]

My bad, it is working perfectly now. the error message was because I did not restart the machine.

[amc]

it's not clear if this gets around the problem of trying to install the driver while an X server is running.

[amc]

please provide a summary of the steps required in addition to posting a link

[Felby]

This doesn't fix the X server issue when trying to install the .run file, but it does offer another way to install/update to the latest nvidia drivers packaged for the unbuntu distro.

[Nathan Schwermann]

The driver this serves up is many versions outdated. Is there a way to get the actual current version through apt-get?

[Aracthor]

I strongly not recommend this method. It made my X server to refuse to start on system start, I had to remove it on console mode. It seems that those drivers are now very outdated and not updated anymore.

[user1111929]

This made my laptop unusable. I boot successfully into the login screen, but when I login to any account, I see a black screen for a second and I am back at the login screen... any idea what's going on or how to resolve it? :(

[Jack Tong]

This happened to me on my GT220 card, updating to nvidia 340. Apparently, the card is not supported by the latest driver. You may try going down a version or two until you have a usable desktop. Good luck!

[Kalamalka Kid]

"Enter runlevel 3 by typing sudo init 3 and install your *.run file" can you please clarify how to install the .run file?

[Jack Tong]

Once you've managed to enter runlevel 3, you can simply type <path to your *.run file> and execute. The installer will guide you through the process.

[Dor]

Notice that runlevel 3 is the same as runlevel 2-5 in all Debian distros (including Ubuntu), see: Debian and Ubuntu Linux Run Levels. This means that you need to sudo service lightdm stop after that you enter to runlevel 3. In our case, it seems redundant to enter to runlevel 3, isn't it?

[Jack Tong]

They are not the same. More like similar because they are all multi-user modes. #2 has a graphical display manager, whereas #3 does not. Read the part about `#telinit 3' somewhere near the bottom.

[Mona Jalal]

jalal@klein:~/Downloads$ sudo ./cuda_8.0.44_linux.run --no-x-check Unknown option: no-x-check

[khaverim]

This doesn't resolve the issue on 16.04 for me. Driver installation still detects X server running and fails.

[khaverim]

I have 15.04 and the same graphics card. x-updates is apparently now just updates. Also I had to install nvidia-304 before nvidia-current as a prerequisite. And now, alas, accessing tty1 is perpetually stuck saying Scanning for Btrfs filesystems, so I am sad. I can't issue commands in tty1, and so I can't access my computer anymore, until I find a way

[MasterHD]

I strongly recommend this console method (don't use the website or .run files at all) as confirmed here: askubuntu.com/a/624967/662072

[Shautieh]

Great advice to kill your machine...

[Andrea Thacker]

If you have a black screen you might have a terminal prompt out of view, type enter a handful of times to make sure you still don't have a terminal session open but you just can't see it.

[Jabberwockey]

This killed my Ubuntu installation after stopping the lightdm service. Now I have another problem to solve. Why is this the most upvoted answer?

[web.learner]

@Jabberwockey A few things have changed since this answer was posted but this is still the correct process. More likely you installed the wrong Nvidia driver for your card or a corrupted file. Ask a new question with the specifics.

[XavM]

@Jabberwockey, how did you solved your installation issue? I follow these instructions and it crashed my installation too.

[karel]

This is a duplicate of this answer: askubuntu.com/questions/149206/how-to-install-nvidia-run/…

[crypdick]

You can restart from terminal with shutdown -r 0

[Sarz]

Kill [ID] killing process ID is logging me out and have to login again. Is X server related to logged in UI?

[thirtydot]

I couldn't get any of the .run files from Nvidia's site to work (they would install but driver was broken). Using the graphics-drivers PPA instantly worked for me, as detailed in this answer: askubuntu.com/questions/61396/…. nvidia-390.

[thang]

for some reason service lightdm stop doesn't stop it. had to manually kill it.

[user2979044]

If your install for some reason has lightdm permanently disabled on reboot (causing login issues), edit the conf at bootup with 'e', find the line starting with 'linux', and append a '3' to the end of the line. This should start you up straight into terminal, where you can then restart the lightdm.

[B Furtado]

Did this work? Why the answer everyone complains in the comments is the most upvoted?

[Mr. Unnormalized Posterior]

Works on Ubuntu 18.10. Thanks! Additionally, I used this link askubuntu.com/questions/842256/… and during installation say yes to all installation steps (nvidia-xconfig utility, 32-bit OpenGL libraries, DKMS support)

[Brana]

I do not undestand, how do I do anything when I am not logged in

[Yossarian42]

Although this method works with unity, it will crash when installing driver with a gnome desktop

[rahul]

This even worked for linuxlite 4.4

[Hossein]

@user1111929 I also the same problem. Did you find any way to resolve it? Or just reinstall Ubuntu?

[user1111929]

@Hossein This was 3.5 years ago, I do not remember sorry. But given the 18 upvotes on my comment, I suspect we're not the only ones.

[marcelocra]

From the docs: --no-x-check Do not abort the installation if nvidia-installer detects that an X server is running. Only under very rare circumstances should this option be used.

[IgNite]

@marcelocra , Where did you find such document? Could you attach the link?

[marcelocra]

The ./NVIDIAxxxx.run command is a bash script. I believe the documentation was inside of it. If that's really the case, try vim ./NVIDIAxxxx.run (sorry, I don't remember anymore, but since I didn't link it, that is probably correct).

[Giang Nguyễn]

It killed my pc awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Giang Nguyễn]

Alright! This is how I solved the problem: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa sudo apt update sudo apt install nvidia-367 sudo reboot

[Giang Nguyễn]

Also, follow this link to install cuda driver: unix.stackexchange.com/a/524151/365545

[Admin]

Worked for me Debian 10 Buster, Nvidia Driver 460.91.03.

[Admin]

this solution does not work and destroyed my graphics and ubuntu. now nothing is working.

[Admin]

+1 for the sudo - other answers did not mention this, but the error in the OP indicates root is required.